Cover story

It’s not by coincidence that Donald Trump’s run for the presidency harked back to that of the most successful Republican in memory. Yet despite similarities in the campaign, certain fundamental differences in the candidates as well as the context will surely generate surprises.

Trump has promised Americans that his business acumen will allow him to increase wealth and create more jobs. In the short run, at least, business as usual can be expected to be better than ever – but at what price?

Trump’s victory has people fretting over the future of climate change agreements. But regardless of who is president, there are inevitable economic considerations that go beyond either side’s rhetoric and ideology.

Many reasonable people are dismayed by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections. But there is more to politics than reason. There is also the much-neglected entertainment factor, which has worked to Trump’s advantage.

China has several reasons to be concerned about Trump. He has threatened a trade war, and even if he doesn’t follow through on his threats, Trump represents forces that could eventually contaminate the Chinese.

In the wake of Brexit, with the rise of protectionist and anti-establishment sentiment, the UK’s Conservative government is attempting to recalibrate the uneven effects of globalization and address the disenchanted classes.

World economy

The rewards of an engaged female workforce cannot be underestimated. Yet since it would be hard to deny that differences in perception affect gender issues in the workplace, it is worth examining what women face today.

Warming bloopers

Although the scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports the claim that global warming has been gravely exacerbated by human activity, there are some phenomena, such as growing atoll islands, that give cause for skepticism.

Talking heads

Throughout history Russia’s lack of natural barriers have obliged it to seek out “strategic depth.” This has meant that it needs to have friendly nations on its borders. Better still would be to have client states that carry out Moscow’s bidding. When that can’t be achieved, and Russia feels that there is a hostile entity on its border, then a curtain of fire can always be created to keep enemies skittish of scorched earth at bay.

World money

The world’s monetary system requires a degree of independence for central banks that naturally entails a democratic deficit. But doubts about the need for such independence are making monetary policy prey to populism.

Berlaymont

With the election of Donald Trump, Europe has again settled into what has now become its default mode: condescension. By deriding or lecturing the President-elect, the EU has presented itself with unnecessary obstacles.

Potomac watch

The Democratic Party’s electoral defeat has left it in shambles, severed from its traditional working-class base. To regain lost ground it needs to rebuild its strategy, held ransom by its obsession with minority identity politics.

Chosen words

Is it the fault of Big Data, if Hillary Clinton lost the election? The Democratic candidate won the popular vote by more than a million. Donald Trump was elected because of the mechanism of the Electoral College, where he had 306 votes to 232, and which was in fact dismissed as “a disaster for democracy” and “an arcane, insane 18th-century idea” by the radical leftist filmmaker Michael Moore, while a Change.org petition called “on the Electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton.”